Is WWE programming too family friendly – has the PG era taken the spark out of pro wrestling? I have been a wrestling fan since a little before the first Wrestlemania in 1985 at Madison Square Garden. I can still remember watching a fuzzy screen with no sound (it was the best I could get on our old satellite dish) as I tried to watch Hulk Hogan and Mr. T face off with Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful.
I have been through the good times and the bad as a wrestling fan. The times where everyone was watching the product (early Hogan and the Monday Night Wars) and then the other times when I would hide that I was a wrestling fan in public (I’m looking at you Bastion Booger Gobbledy Gooker).
However, with all of that said, the last decade of wrestling has been almost impossible to watch. During this time, WWE was the only big player on the scene and Vince McMahon knew it. He could give us just about any crap he wanted for storylines and characters and we would have to eat shit and like it. Perhaps with AEW and the possibilities of what they can offer, this could be about ready to change.
Is the WWE Going to Stray From Their PG Programming?
The worst thing that could have happened for wrestling fans was having the WWE go public with their stock. It made a billion dollars for the McMahons, but it made their programming family friendly. They have stockholders to answer to now. And when I say family friendly, I mean cartoonish family friendly. And not like the cool cartoons either. It was more like the cartoons a two or three-year-old watches that adults can’t figure out what is exactly happening.
With AEW about ready to debut on TNT, the rumblings are that WWE could soon be straying a bit from their PG programming. Even wrestlers like Mick Foley are coming out and saying this is about ready to happen. But I will believe it when I actually see it. We have heard these things over and over again from the McMahons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-7RG-0c7Bg
Just months ago, the McMahon family was in the ring apologizing to the fans saying they have failed us and they will do better. How did they do better following that announcement? By giving us the same exact garbage they had been giving us. Nothing had changed except for an apology. They should put one of those apologies at the end of every Raw for now on. “We realize here at the WWE that the three hours of Raw that you just watched in 15 minutes on your DVR was substandard and we will do better next week when we present the same matches that you have seen a million times over.”
I realize they are offering up their programming for little kids along with all of their merchandising. But they are alienating sections of the audience that have brought them to this point. It is like bringing a date to the prom and then ditching her once you are named homecoming king. Bad move, WWE.
Remember Us?? Your Adult Audience?
My friends and I were hardcore wrestling fans from the mid-80s on, but right around the beginning of 2010, we have pretty much washed our hands of the WWE. We rarely go the shows anymore and the only wrestling shirts we wear are ones that are more than ten years old. You have lost out on your diehard fans by selling out to little children. Why? We have disposable income ready to throw away and you neglect us by giving us silly storylines and nonsense.
The sad part is that you have the talent to pull off programming aimed more for adults. The wrestlers (I am not calling them divas or entertainers) you have are for the most part pretty talented. Let them be in charge of their promos. Ask them ideas for storylines. Change something! Show that you care! The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome (at least that is what I have always been told…I have never really looked up the definition myself).
The WWE is never going away. Their Network and streaming is like Netflix for wrestling fans. (Of course, their search engine on the Network is horrible and makes it impossible to find specific matches.) Maybe with AEW emerging on the scene, we will have wrestling programming for adults and kids without pandering to little children. However, I am not putting my faith, money, or time into WWE PG. No more apologies.
No more recycling DX in an effort to convince all of us they are still cool (they were only interesting for two years anyway). Quit using old storylines or ridiculous characters. It is time to welcome back your adult fans, WWE. Come back to THEOVERTIMER to enjoy all your WWE and AEW news and views!
